Putin said Svyatogorsk was captured, but a Ukrainian general sent a video message from the city center
What is known about Ukraine's advance around Lyman?
Putin said Svyatogorsk was captured, but a Ukrainian general sent a video message from the city center
The commander of the Third Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Andriy Biletsky, published a video from the center of the city of Svyatogorsk in the Donetsk oblast on September 7. Prior to this, both the Russian Ministry of Defense and Vladimir Putin personally had claimed that this city had been captured. Furthermore, according to OSINT analysts, the Ukrainian army is continuing its counteroffensive in the Lyman direction and has most likely achieved significant success. The BBC Ukrainian Service noted that this "secret operation is still ongoing."
Vladimir Putin announced the capture of Svyatogorsk on September 1. This city is located 15 km northwest of Lyman, and near it is the Holy Dormition Lavra, which is considered sacred for Orthodox Christians.
The following day, the Russian Ministry of Defense also reported the capture of this city. However, no evidence was provided for this.
Even then, the accuracy of these statements was doubted by Russian Z-bloggers themselves. This was because the settlement was located approximately 10–12 km away from the front line at that time, and no information had emerged about Russian assault troops successfully advancing in the direction of the city.
A day after the statement of the Russian military command, a number of Ukrainian journalists toured Svyatogorsk and could not find any Russians there.
On September 7, the Third Army Corps, which is responsible for this section of the front, published a video of General Andriy Biletsky. In it, the general is seen walking freely around Svyatogorsk and the area near the Holy Dormition Lavra, without even wearing a helmet. The video also shows civilian cars moving through the city, and that the residential center is fully under the control of the Ukrainian army.
In addition, the commander of the Third Army Corps called Svyatogorsk a "rear city."
"One cannot say that there have never been Russian soldiers in Svyatogorsk [in 2022, this city was occupied by the Russian army for several months], but here, in general, you can walk around without any problems, although it is better to wear a bulletproof vest... This is the rear area of our corps, everything is wonderful here," he said.